Thinking through solidarity organizing, with an eye to how we can better live the change, as well as how we often slip in to colonial patterns when working together across distance and difference. Written from the perspective of a long time US and now Canada based international solidarity activist turned political geographer.

Jan 7, 2009

War is now being waged on youtube. The Israeli Defense Force's channel of videos of the bombing is beyond creepy. Supposedly youtube has taken down the worst ones! ha. But there are also some incredible disturbing home videos being put up *from the ground* in Gaza like the one above (which I find very hard to watch). Youtube really is an incredible resource when no outside media is being allowed in. Of course, after so many years of being blockaded and trapped into a ghetto (which is now to top it all off being bombed), how many Palestinians will have the resources to own a digital camera that takes video? Right now who still has internet to upload it? Who has the generators to get electricity to run the computer? That any of these videos are getting out at all is amazing. Of course, these views from the ground are not nearly as widely seen as the IDF ones from the planes, and as disturbing as watching them is, I do think sharing them is important solidarity work.

"As international observers, we have the responsibility to ensure that the international community has access to the reality of Israel’s attacks on Gaza.” Vittorio Arrigoni

"Our lives are no more important than theirs and we will stay during their suffering in solidarity and to document what Israel is preventing foreign journalists from revealing.” Eva Bartlett

Well no, their lives may be no more important (though of course, geopolitically they are treated as if they are), but then, they are choosing to put their lives on the line when they could leave. There is a real chance that in this chaos some of them will die. Especially now that they are accompanying ambulances (which, yes, have been targeted by Israelis), and since the Israeli's have been bombing places a second time once rescue crews are there trying to get people out of the rubble (this I learned from the reports from these accompaniers).

Let us honor their chosen risk by at least reading their reports - a much easier way of doing solidarity.